Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 618: One man blocking the city i

'Don't' he shouted before Arial suddenly woke up

He opens his eyes wide and suddenly and saw the ceiling. And his heart is beating as fast as the warhorse running in the prairie

His entire body is sweating and his hand is trembling. There is tears streaming down his eyes and there is this feeling of sorrow that he could not describe enveloping him

'Again?' he thought to himself. His chest heaved up and down as he takes his breath

Even though this is not the first time he felt like this, it is still weird. There are times when he would just wake up in the middle of the night.

And the moment he wakes up everything is clear to him. There is no blurriness of sight or any tiredness.

Only a feeling of loss. It felt like he forgotten something and by forgetting he felt at a loss.

It is not the same like those bouts of nightmare he is used to. Every once in a while, there were nights like tonight

Nights where he would suddenly wake up with this feeling of loss. The sorrow he felt is nothing like he ever experienced.

When he lost Helia, when he lost his father, he felt sorrow. 

He felt sadness. 

And while it is saddening and it is something that bring him down. the feeling he felt each time he wakes up from thiswhatever this is...he would felt such sorrow like he never felt before

It was like something very important was taken from him. And yet he couldn't remember what it was. 

All he knew that each time this event happens, he would wake up from his sleep, tears streaming. 

He closes his eyes and wipes the tears from his face. He did not know why he is crying. Who is he crying for? Is he dreaming of something that made him felt such sorrow?

This is the fourth time he wakes up in the night like this. Once, he had woken up like this before the death of his wife.

He sat on his bed for a few minutes calming his heart. Outside, dawn is about to break. 

'Since I am already up, I should prepare' Arial shakes the thought off from his mind. This is not the first time it happens. 

He tried to find the reason and he once tried to remember the dream. But it is all pointless. He could not remember anything 

But he was certain of something. He had a feeling he was dreaming of someone. And whoever that someone is it made his heart felt such sorrow that it breaks him so much that even after waking up, the sorrow envelops him.

In the past, he thought this is a sign that he is going crazy. He even made a contingency plan in the event that he went crazy.

Arial is stricter on his officials. But he is even stricter toward himself. He would not let the Empire that he built is ruled by a mad Emperor. 

But after nothing wrong happens to him even when he had this kind of dream, he just let it go.

He does not know why he keeps doing this. But it did not change him. He would only felt sad for a few minutes before he is stable again

Maybe it had something to do with his lineage. In the past, he blames this kind of stuff for maybe his expedition of war.

But is it so unreasonable if this kind of dream is actually related to his lineage. Because after last night, he had learned that his family is not as ordinary as he thought

He shook his head and once again takes deep breath. He slowly sits up on his bed

His long white hair draped over his shoulder. He is half naked yet his body could not feel the cold

His body heat seems to regulate itself. 

'Let's have a head start for today'

He got up from his bed and put some loose clothes on his body. Unlike many monarchs in history, Arial rarely let people serve him.

While most of the other miscellaneous thing in his palace in Eden is done by his servant, Arial rarely ask them to help him bathe.

There are many enemies of the Empire.

Sometimes, he couldn't even trust his servants. 

After all, what most people forget, that during the time it was clear that Empire was about to become the hegemon of the Human Continent, some people tried to assassinate him

Some of them try to poisons him. Others tries to attack him when he is alone. And many more such schemes and plots. 

Some of them even hides deeply in the palace and only at the last moment reveal themselves trying to kill him

One of such event was when Arial was nearly stabbed by his own servant in his Grand Bath

Clearly, he did not believe the stories about Arial. It is told in stories, that Arial the Dragon possess an invulnerable body.

Some people clearly believe this is simply an exaggeration of the Emperor. The reason why these assassination attempt is not publicized is because it would only foster chaos.

The risk when conquering nations and kingdoms with fire and blood is that he makes enemies

And he has a lot of those. 

And because of his experience with assassinations, he was even more cautious. Even here, worlds away from his empire, in a foreign land, he still kept this habit.

He walks to the study table in his room and saw the bottle of wine on the middle of the table. 

'I forgot to put it back yesterday' he thought to himself

He pours down a glass and drink it like he was drinking water. Last night, he heard something very shocking. It is even harder for him to believe it.

Even after Orval told him everything that he needed to know and there is no indication whatsoever that Orval was lying, Arial almost could not believe it.

Even now, as he wakes up, last night conversation still echoes in his ears. Last night after Orval told him all he needed to know, for a whole minute, Arial was completely speechless.

And Arial is rarely speechless. But revelation after revelations shocked him. And Orval did not hold back. Orval told him about the history of his family

He still could not believe it. There is a bitter smile on his face recalling the story

He is related to Levitia. And the full name of Levitia is Levitia of the House of Vermont. He also found out more than just that

He learns that his family was actually royalty. He learns the secret of the Disk. It recorded the history of the First Generation and the Lost Generation.

It also is a map and a set of instruction. The map shows the mythical weapon of the First Generation, a weapon that if the story is to be believed, could bring the end of the world

It could sink down an entire continent and causes the area to be poisoned. He learns of the Divine Blood 

It almost sounds like one of the tall tales of the fairies.

In other words, he still needs time to take it all in.

he drinks wine but he is not drunk. Then he put down the glass. 

He shakes his head and thought about what he needed to do.

There are many things in his mind and if he keeps thinking about it, it would never end. But while the things that Orval said burdens him, at least not he knows some of the truth

And some things began to make sense. He went out of his room and went to take a bath. The castle is unlike his palace in Eden. 

This castle people still used wooden tubs with water heated from the fire. The people tasked for preparing the bath has been preparing since morning.

But since hot bath or cold bath is the same for him, Arial did not care that much. He went to take a bath and after half an hour is ready to go to court.

He wanted to meet the officials and discuss many things about their next move. 

Balhae need to be completely pacified before he could really say that he had a foothold here

He had a lot of soldiers. 

Which means there is a lot of mouth to feed.

Fortunately, because of the sudden disappearance of the dark miasma that usually present in the Three Kingdoms, Arial had read the report that says the people had a bumper harvest.

The economy also need to keep running so chaos would not fester. He needs to stabilize the state as fast as possible before he made his next move.

Of course, he likes to raid and swept all of his enemies. But this is unlike the Land of the Thirteen Tribe where most of the tribes lives in huts and forest.

In the Three Kingdoms, Arial saw that the people of the Three Great tribes lives in an organized society.

They have large wooden building, brick castle and stone walls. 

If there is a difference between the people of the Three Kingdoms and the people in Human Continent, it is that the people of the Three Kingdom rarely have any form of entertainment.